This isn't one of your typical rants about the Bucks are in peril or how the Brewers will miss Prince Fielder. Rather than opine in this space as I normally do about who will play quarterback next year for the Badgers or left tackle next year for the Packers, I want to use this space for something entirely different and much, much more important, if you guys will indulge me.

Cancer.

Do I have your attention yet? I hope so, because while not all cancers are preventable, many are. We here at OnMilwaukee.com lost our dear friend and colleague Tim Cuprisin the day before Thanksgiving after a short but brave and valiant fight with an aggressive form of melanoma. In some way, each of us has been touched by this insidious disease that robs us of loved ones or ourselves.

When I was in college, my roommate and I would often go to his parents house in Wilmette, Ill., for the weekend. And while I never became a fan of any of their sports teams, it was through those visits that I got to know and love the city of Chicago. While staying at Andy's house I got to know his parents as well as his older brother and sister.

Beth was in graduate school by the time I met her. Andy's sister was about five or six years older than we were and was stunningly beautiful. She was not only gorgeous, but was also whip-smart and could disarm you with just her smile. Much to my chagrin at the time, she was also engaged.

Fast forward to April 2004. Beth, now a 37-year-old mother of two small children, was diagnosed with colon cancer. She did not have any family history of cancer of any kind and had seemed like she was otherwise in perfect health. She never smoked, rarely drank, ate well, and exercised.

Beth died in October of that year, leaving behind those two kids who have had to grow up without their mother.

About six weeks ago, I noticed blood in my stool. After a quick search on WebMD.com, I discovered that was one of the prime suspects of colon cancer. Alarmed, I made an appointment…

I've been fortunate in my career in sports media. I have covered such events as the Rose Bowl, The Masters, the Kentucky Derby and so on and so forth. I've also now gotten the opportunity to cover five Super Bowls: XXXI, XXXII, XXXIX, XLV and XLVI.

Until Sunday night, however, I never had the out of body experience I had while on the field where just an hour before the entire world was watching Tom Brady's pass fall just incomplete, giving Eli Manning and the New York Giants their second Super Bowl win in four years over the New England Patriots.

Let me rewind first.

As the game was ending, my job was to coordinate guests on the field and in the locker room for Yahoo! Sports Radio. So, there I was, on the field as the confetti is flying. I had a beat on a couple of guys that we wanted to speak to, but wanted to allow them to soak in the moment with teammates, friends and family before grabbing them for their network hit. Standing on the 45-yard-line, out of the corner of my left eye I spot an instantly familiar face and voice.

And my bizarre night began.

Yaeaaaah Boy-eeee!! We did it bayyybeee!! were the words and the clock around his neck could only mean one thing. Flavor Flav had a field pass and was headed straight for me.

Keep in mind I don't know Flavor Flav. I've never met Flavor Flav. I've never interviewed Flavor Flav. And yet, there I was, right in his path. And he was looking to hug someone. Anyone. Even a tall white bald guy wearing a suit.

I'll confess I did not know that the former rapper for Public Enemy was a Giants fan, but after me, he wasn't done hugging people, most famously Tom Coughlin. If you never believed me about sports bringing people together before that, believe me now. There are no two men more dissimilar than Flav and Coughlin.

After my encounter with Flav, I grabbed center David Baas for a couple of minutes walking right behind the ESPN set at the time. The only reason I know that was by the dozen or so text messages from frien…

About Doug Russell

Doug Russell has been covering Milwaukee and Wisconsin sports for over 20 years on radio, television, magazines, and now at OnMilwaukee.com.

Over the course of his career, the Edward R. Murrow Award winner and Emmy nominee has covered the Packers in Super Bowls XXXI, XXXII and XLV, traveled to Pasadena with the Badgers for Rose Bowls, been to the Final Four with Marquette, and saw first-hand the entire Brewers playoff runs in 2008 and 2011. Doug has also covered The Masters, several PGA Championships, MLB All-Star Games, and Kentucky Derbys; the Davis Cup, the U.S. Open, and the Sugar Bowl, along with NCAA football and basketball conference championships, and for that matter just about anything else that involves a field (or court, or rink) of play.

Doug was a sports reporter and host at WTMJ-AM radio from 1996-2000, before taking his radio skills to national syndication at Sporting News Radio from 2000-2007. From 2007-2011, he hosted his own morning radio sports show back here in Milwaukee, before returning to the national scene at Yahoo! Sports Radio last July. Doug's written work has also been featured in The Sporting News, Milwaukee Magazine, Inside Wisconsin Sports, and Brewers GameDay.

Doug and his wife, Erika, split their time between their residences in Pewaukee and Houston, TX.